Sexuality gathers Christian Standard articles that explore God’s design for sex, marriage, and the body through a biblical lens. Here you’ll find teaching on purity, temptation, singleness, marriage intimacy, sexual brokenness, and cultural questions surrounding sexual ethics. These articles aim to help readers pursue holiness with humility and hope, uphold the goodness of God’s design, and respond to others with truth, compassion, and grace.
September 9, 2025
American Christians may have to learn to live in an environment where their religious liberty is protected while their historic beliefs on sexuality and marriage are unpopular outside the church.
May 8, 2023
A group is protesting Milligan University’s avowed biblical position on human sexuality by posting on a billboard near campus last month that “Trans is Holy,” “Drag is Holy,” “Queer is Holy,” and “You are Holy." . . .
April 25, 2019
How the Church Must Respond to Sexual Identity Issues in Both Truth and Grace By Caleb Kaltenbach Not long ago, I sat in an apartment crying with two African-American lesbians. They were married and were attending a church in Houston that I was working with. After being with the church awhile, they concluded God designed sexual intimacy for marriage between a man and woman. They asked the church staff about next steps, but the ministers were as confused as the ladies. Now I was in their living room processing their situation. They had been together for 10 years and married
April 25, 2019
5 Ways to Help Emerging Adults Find Good Love and Good Lovin’ By Haydn Shaw Connie wrung her hands as she confessed that her 24-year-old daughter had started having sex with her boyfriend. “My husband and I raised her in the church. Until recently she believed that sex outside of marriage is wrong,” Connie told me. “But she informed me that as soon as she can get a better job, she’s moving in with her boyfriend. She says they love each other and plan to get married in a few years.” Why are my kids putting off marriage but not
July 29, 2016
By Roger Worsham Michelle was raised in an abusive home by an extremely narcissistic mom. When she was 9 her mom married for the fifth time. This stepfather was abusive, like some of the others, and molested Michelle from age 9 to 13. When she told her mother about the molestation, her mother refused to believe her. She told Michelle, “You are too ugly for him to be interested in having sex with you.” Later Michelle”s mom remarried again. This marriage didn”t last. Michelle”s mom stole a check from her estranged sixth husband, and he sent another woman to collect
July 6, 2015
By Sean Palmer I love gay people. For many, it”s surprising to hear a Christian minister say that””especially an Evangelical minister from a fundamentalist background and with fundamentalist theological training””but I do love them. I really can”t help it. And I don”t love people because I”m a saint. I love them because I know so many by name. I know Jesus asks me to love everyone, but I must be honest; I have trouble loving people I don”t know. A plane crashes in Asia, and I”m saddened for the families of the dead, but I don”t grieve. I don”t love
April 7, 2015
By Mark A. Taylor Does any Christian, in the name of religious freedom, really want the right to refuse service to a gay or lesbian? I doubt it. Christian restaurant owners, gas station operators, and Wal-Mart managers have been doing business with gays and lesbians for years, without a problem. The issue isn”t service“”whether I”ll fix a grilled cheese sandwich for a hungry gay guy or sell a dress to a lesbian she”ll wear at her wedding. The issue is endorsement. No one does a morality check before someone enters his business. Every day Christians do business with adulterers, fornicators,
February 16, 2015
By J. Robert Ross The minister at my church recently refused to allow Sam (not his real name), a convicted sex offender in my treatment program, to attend services at our church. I understood his fear, but I cannot agree with his decision to turn Sam away. I suspect his reaction, and the reaction of many others, is motivated by anxiety rooted in several misconceptions about sex offenders, their offenses, and their victims. A common misconception, aided and abetted by the media, puts all offenders in the same boat. Anyone convicted of a sex offense is automatically labeled a “sexual
February 12, 2015
By Jason Yeatts We, as a society and a church, have unconsciously adopted an understanding of sexuality that does more harm than good. I”m not talking about our culture”s growing acceptance of homosexuality, but our acceptance of the idea of homosexuality. The two are quite different. We have picked up a language about sex that both perpetuates a wrong view of human identity and hinders the path of Christian discipleship. To understand how this has happened, we must first look at the human heart. When Scriptures declare, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) and
February 10, 2015
By Mark A. Taylor If anybody should be talking about sex these days, it”s the church! That was our thought as we planned this month”s long string of posts. But frankly, sometimes I wondered if we were doing the right thing. After all, aren”t we a little tired of hearing about sex? We”ve become numb to sexual innuendo on television and at the movies. We”re weary with each week”s new “coming out” story on the news, and many of us have regrettably resigned ourselves to the growing acceptance of gay marriage. We watch sexual infidelity ruin families and damage local
February 9, 2015
By T.R. Robertson You”re drunk. You”re at a party, sitting on the couch. It”s three in the morning. You”re looking around. You don”t know where your roommates went. You”re tired. You don”t know how you”re getting home. You look next to you, at this person. They look at you. You say to yourself, “All right . . . “ You won”t find lines like that in your average romance novel. They”re a college student”s description of a typical college hookup situation, quoted at the 2014 Q Conference by sociology and religious studies scholar Donna Freitas. Freitas is the author of
February 8, 2015
By Casey Tygrett Some won”t at first be comfortable with the question. But those who want to live more like Jesus will always think about Jesus at the same time they think about sex. It is something that”s enjoyable, even when it”s difficult or awkward. It can be enjoyed on every continent, in every country, in any place and””with a few exceptions””at any time. It involves all the senses, exploding into brilliant concert together at just the right moment. Some would say it is a God-given right, and discourage efforts to prevent it or regulate it. Some, of course, take
February 7, 2015
By Brian Jones On an episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart defined “the gay agenda” as . . . “Gay marriage, civil rights protection, Fleet Week expanded to Fleet Year, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for when it”s raining men, Kathy Griffin to host everything, and a nationwide ban on pleated pants.” I would add one more: to simply be treated with respect by Christians. Last year I did a series of blog posts on the topic of homosexuality. It was the most read, discussed, and shared topic I”ve blogged about in recent memory. What surprised me, however,
February 6, 2015
By Jon Weatherly “The Gospel, Homosexuality, and the Future of Marriage” was the title of the conference convened by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention, October 27″“29, 2014, in Nashville, Tennessee. Around 1,300 people attended, hearing speakers and panels from the SBC and beyond discuss the church”s response to contentious issues raised by the widespread legalization and popular approval of same-sex marriage. I attended all sessions of the conference. My aim was to listen as someone outside the Southern Baptist Convention, learn what I could from an event organized by a leading Christian organization
February 2, 2015
By Paul E. Boatman For me and most people I know, sex has always been a bit perplexing. Forming a solidly Christian perspective on sexuality seems an elusive goal.  “Sex is dirty. Save it for marriage.” This was how David Seamands once summarized the sex education he received in his Christian family. I recall a vivid moment as a 9-year-old sitting in church with some peers. Randomly skimming the Old Testament, I paused at the Song of Solomon. What I read went beyond stirring my preadolescent curiosity. Right there in the Bible I was reading about a distinctly “sexy” interaction
October 16, 2014
By T.R. Robertson The reaction of Christians to a prominent athlete”s admission of homosexuality can provide one clue to how the church is relating to culture. On February 9, Michael Sam, a senior defensive end for the Missouri Tigers football team, publicly “came out” in an ESPN interview. The news went viral nationally. In traditional and social media, Sam was heavily praised for his courage in announcing he is gay. In May, he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams and the celebratory kiss with his boyfriend on national TV was replayed many times during the following days. This news
January 26, 2013
THIS IS THE FOURTH IN A SERIES OF FIVE “STICKY CONVERSATIONS” By Casey Tygrett The kingdom of God has an open invitation. Paul talks about it freely, saying that in Christ the distinctions that set up boundaries between us melt into a mist and simply fade away (see Galatians 3:28). The brilliance of Jesus shines brighter than the different tones of our culture, gender, and reputation. I was thinking about this as I talked with a man who had recently started attending our church and had taken all the preliminary steps to get to know us as a church.
August 28, 2012
By Robert A.J. Gagnon While many Christians are firm in their objection to homosexual activity, our culture continues its trend toward normalizing it. While many Christians are certain homosexual activity is wrong, fewer Christians can answer secular claims that the Bible doesn”t really forbid it. Here is a concise (although longer than usual for this magazine) treatment of five key issues raised by defenders of homosexual practice. You will hear, or have heard, some of these claims. Until now you may not have read the straightforward reasons to refute them. Issue: JESUS Claim:Â Jesus had no interest in maintaining a
June 18, 2012
By Paul Boatman Kent Paris, author of Means of Grace: A Primer for the Understanding and Care of Souls Affected by Homosexuality, is a Christian counselor in Champaign, Illinois, specializing in gender confusion issues. Can you summarize how your unique ministry calling developed? I didn”t seek it out. It was not how I envisioned my life or vocation. As a new Christian in the 1970s, I was working with a street ministry. I attended a conference of the newly formed organization Exodus, attended by about 100 people who had come out of the gay life. Having struggled with homosexuality growing
February 24, 2012
By Mark Moore Individuals with same-sex attraction make up as much as 6 percent of the male population and 4.5 percent of females (though some studies estimate half that). Those are not insignificant numbers, especially when same-sex attraction involves you or someone you love. The church traditionally has not been particularly welcoming of such individuals, and a number of Scriptures have been cited to validate responses that are sometimes violent””verbally, emotionally, occasionally even physically. Because I am a follower of Jesus Christ, it is unconscionable for me to reject in the body of Christ some of the most spiritually sensitive
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok
March 27, 2026
David Empson
March 27, 2026
David Faust